mafool

Yes. My Spanish has been very useful. I do not do any translating, but our business does contract out for translation services for some documents and advertisements. Sometimes there are questions about placement, correlations, etc. and I can help with those.

My pathetic attempts at Mandarin are always appreciated when I am dealing with Chinese colleagues, most of whom at least read and write English quite well.

BCEagle91

Other employees may speak english as a second language but it may be more productive to speak with them in their native language. I work with many Indian and Chinese engineers and there are groups that form that speak in their native languages.

riverrunner

DH uses Spanish in medical practice. He's not very good at it (good at medicine, not at Spanish). I've had to call patients with instructions, on his behalf.

So MY foreign language knowledge has helped HIM do his job

BunsenBurner

"Knowledge of a foreign language" was never included in the job descriptions of the positions I held, but it was certainly helpful in some instances (e.g., try to reproduce something from here Chemische Berichte Vol 1 without being able to read and understand the content )

IloveLA

I would be a much better journalist if I were bilingual.

mathmom

My husband did a post-doctoral fellowship in Germany - I would never have been able to work there if I hadn't had two years of college German. We were there five years. When we came back I got interviewed for a job in a top architecture firm that was doing a project in Germany. I worked for another firm later where Japanese would have been useful.

starbright

I totally agree. In our region, gigantic Asian population. Everyone takes Mandarin, its the in thing, but I think its all rather futile to be taking a few classes in HS (or even the ever popular Mandarin immersion from first grade if one isn't already speaking it at home). Great for a challenge and exposure to a culture and stretching your brain, not great if one has the expectation they will use it later. And no way one will come close to the people who learned it at home (which is true for about half the young people in this city). And it's unfortunate because it really is used a LOT in business here, given our location and nature of our city (a good portion of our population live and work both in our city and HK and many many students go back and forth). China has billions and will be increasingly influential in the global economy. I think those that speak Chinese will have a gigantic advantage. Too bad I'm unilingual and our kids won't learn Mandarin

My colleagues who speak multiple languages definitely have advantages as academics. Since most academics work with people in other countries, spend extended time in other countries (on sabbatical, giving talks, doing seminars, collecting data), and want to read journal articles in languages other than English. Is it necessary?- not at all. Is it useful?- definitely.

marite

I know some Americans who are making a great living in China. They learned Chinese in college. The people they deal with on a day to day professional basis most probably speak fluent English, but the Americans still need to use Chinese to deal with non professionals. Colleges used to teach "research" Chinese. Now they teach "survival" Chinese. The same goes with most other languages.

Okay, so French is my native tongue but when I visited Italy many years ago, I was able to get around with the help of my French, my vanishing Latin, and an Italian dictionary.

mimk6

DD uses Spanish to communicate with the parents of her students.

mantori.suzuki

I studied German for a total of three years in high school and college, and it still serves me well on occasion. Once at a trade show I met a Russian man who spoke a little German, and we managed to strike a deal in broken German. It also helped me get where I was going when I had a Greek cabbie who spoke German but no English.

Those are practical examples, but more often, it just helps me impress German, Austrian, and certain Swiss people. I don't speak German nearly as well as they speak English, but the mere fact that I can greet them in their own language is a great ice-breaker.

mommusic

^^agreed.

I know how I feel when I meet someone whose English is broken, but we smile and try to communicate as well as we can, with the occasional sign language or charade gesture, vs. someone who has NO English whatsoever. With the latter I just feel helpless.

calgal

I only took 3 years of high school Spanish, but I communicate with patients every day in Spanish. I bring a translator into the room to clarify a comment or to answer questions if I am having trouble comprehending them, and always for issues of informed consent, but approximately 80% of the time I am able to conduct a routine appointment in Spanish without difficulty.

binx

My H started learning German via CDs from the library during his commute to work. Within the year we were transferred to Germany. He was the only American in his dept. Everyone who is college educated speaks English fairly well, but technicians, draftsman, etc - as well as local shopkeepers and such, did not speak English. We were in a small town. Lots of farmers. English is spoken a lot in larger cities, but not so much in smaller towns where there are fewer college-educated people. During the 3 years we were there, his knowledge increased greatly. (Mine less so. I can buy anything, though.) He is at a supreme advantage even now when German coworkers discuss something amongst themselves and he can follow the conversation.

My D is taking Chinese in college. She is only in her second year. She has had a handful of experiences interacting with Chinese exchange students (or in one case, lonely wives of exchange students) who were so grateful to have even simple conversations in their own language. Ironically, when we lived in Germany, she became instant friends with other immigrants there, because they didn't speak German, but did speak English.

The other "purpose" we found in knowing another language is simply the respect it garners. Many Europeans think it is arrogance that keeps Americans from learning another language. They really underestimate the size of the US. Over time we can help them understand that in the time we can travel through several different European countries, we'd still be in the US. Therefore, the need to know another language is less here, because we can go an equal distance and still get by with one language. That is not arrogance as much as it is the lack of need (that is, motivation). A German who learns French will have multiple opportunities to use it within a couple hours of home. My husband learned French and never used it until we went to Germany. Unfortunately, he'd forgotten most of it by then. But even offering an attempt at another language helps to soften the image.

Mary13

Every day at work, I assist Spanish-only parishioners, and every day I curse the fact that I spent eight years studying French! I am learning Spanish now, but it’s slow going. My synapses don’t fire the way the used to.

toledo

My son was a 16 yr.old volunteer in an emergency room when a migrant farm worker came in complaining of pain. My son did all the translating and ended up writing his college essay about the incident. He plans on using his Spanish in his career as a physician assistant.